Karen Sellers

Executive Director, Kentucky State Board of Elections

Karen Rice Sellers became Executive Director of the Kentucky State Board of Elections in November 2021, after serving as Assistant Director since March 2020.   In her position, Karen directs the day-to-day operations at the State Board, an independent agency that administers the elections laws of the Commonwealth, providing support and guidance to Kentucky’s election officials and supervision of administration and purgation of voters within the state.

Karen is active throughout the Commonwealth by working with county clerks in a continuous effort to improve accessibility and security of Kentucky’s election processes.  She confers with the General Assembly to ensure resources are available for essential technology services to be maintained by the Agency’s in-house election management systems and other IT applications.

In her short election tenure, Karen has overseen 5 elections including significant changes to the 2020 Primary and General elections as a result of the pandemic.  Having spent much of her career in healthcare administration, Karen took this opportunity to become involved in elections where she has found professional satisfaction in this challenging and ever-changing field.  Continuing to grow accessibility, transparency, and maintaining trust in the Commonwealth’s election system is of the utmost importance at the Agency.

Karen is a graduate from the University of Texas at Austin, a member of the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED), a participant in EI-ISAC, a gold member of the Election Center, and a board member of the Electronic Registration and Information Center (ERIC).